Media consortium seeks search warrants from Nova Scotia mass shooting
Prosecutors, journalists to provide positions on public release by Monday
HALIFAX—A provincial court judge says she’ll push to hold hearings as quickly as possible on the public release of search warrants from the investigation into the recent mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
Judge Laurel Halfpenny MacQuarrie says she’s concerned courts will become very busy after pandemic restrictions are relaxed, and the justice system currently has more time to deal with the media application.
In a conference call Monday morning, MacQuarrie told Crown prosecutors and a lawyer representing a media consortium that she’s expecting the parties to provide their positions on the release of the search warrants by next Monday morning.
She granted a one-week delay in proceedings after federal Crowns representing the Canada Border Services Agency said they hadn’t had time to review the warrants.
Lawyer David Coles, representing journalists from a variety of news organizations including The Canadian Press, says he’s hoping the provincial and federal Crowns can provide unredacted portions of the search warrants by next week.
However, provincial Crown attorney Mark Heerema says prosecutors are unlikely to provide any portions of the documents by next week, and he will be seeking dates for further court hearings.
As of Monday, four warrants have been executed and resulted in materials being seized after a gunman went on a rampage through five Nova Scotia communities on April 18 and 19, killing 22 people.
The gunman was shot and killed by police in Enfield, N.S., but investigators are still looking into how he obtained his weapons and whether he had any assistance in creating a replica RCMP vehicle or acquiring a police uniform.
Two production orders have been executed, but police haven’t yet indicated if evidence was seized.
There is one more warrant open for execution until midnight Monday.
Heerema noted the investigation is in its early stages, and more warrants may be issued.
However, the judge noted she wasn’t prepared at this stage to include any future warrants in her decision.
Halfpenny MacQuarrie also said she would shift the next hearings from Truro to Port Hawkesbury, N.S., where larger facilities allow for physical distancing if lawyers and others attend.
The key legal principles on when search warrants are released were formed 28 years ago in Canada with a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision, in a case launched by investigative reporter Linden MacIntyre in 1982.
The highest court ruled that once a search warrant is carried out, the warrant and supporting documents must be made public, but that an exception could be made to protect innocent parties if the search didn’t yield evidence.
It was based largely on the principle that the business of the courts should be made public, with few exceptions.
ROME—Italy started stirring Monday, with millions of people allowed to return to work as Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown began to ease, while the U.S. took halting steps to lift some restrictions even as tens of thousands of new cases were reported every day.
Dozens of people in Florida were waiting before sunrise for the 7 a.m. opening of Clearwater Beach. In South Dakota, a shuttered pork processing plant took its first steps toward reopening after more than 800 employees were infected with coronavirus.
Louisiana lawmakers were also restarting their legislature — even as they feuded over whether they should return at all.
Political battles have become increasingly embedded in coronavirus policy in the United States. In Louisiana, Republican legislators irritated by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ decision to extend the state’s stay-at-home order through May 15 were eager to return to work.
But Democrats saw things differently: “It could be a devastating blow to the strides made and to the safety of our residents, our staff and members if we returned to business as usual prematurely,” Democratic leaders wrote in a letter.
The moves to open U.S. states came even as the country’s oneday death toll stood at 1,313 on Sunday with more than 25,500 confirmed new infections, according the most recent Johns Hopkins University count. The real numbers are likely significantly higher.
With pressure growing in many countries for more measures to restart the economy, politicians also were trying to boost funding for research into a vaccine for COVID-19. There are hopes that one could be available in months, but many scientists warn it could take much longer.
Developing a vaccine will be the key to returning to less restricted everyday life. On Monday, an alliance of world leaders hosted by the European Union held a virtual summit on vaccine research, pledging to give 7.4 billion euros ($11.4 billion).
The U.S., along with Russia, was notably absent.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Norway and top European Union officials said that money raised will be channeled mostly through recognized global health organizations. It remained unclear what role, if any, Washington might play.
French president Emmanuel Macron, who donated 500 million euros on behalf of France, noted that the U.S. was currently “on the sidelines,” but said he had discussed the issue with President Donald Trump and was convinced the U.S. would at some point join the initiative. Governments around the world have reported 3.5 million infections and more than 247,000 deaths, including more than 67,000 dead in the United States, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. Deliberately concealed outbreaks, low testing rates and the severe strain the disease has placed on health-care systems mean the true scale of the pandemic is undoubtedly much greater.
Italy, the first European country hit by the pandemic and a nation with one of the world’s highest death tolls, began opening up cautiously after its twomonth shutdown. In all, 4.4 million Italians were able to return to work.
Traffic in downtown Rome picked up, construction sites and manufacturing operations resumed, parks reopened and flower vendors returned to the Campo dei Fiori market for the first time since March 11.
“It’s something that brings happiness and joy, and people have been missing that these days,” vendor Stefano Fulvi said.
He doesn’t expect to break even any time soon, “but you have to take the risk at some point.”
But Europeans’ new-found freedoms are limited as officials are wary of setting off a second wave of infections. In Italy, mourners were able to attend funerals, but services were limited to 15 people. Restaurants scrubbed floors in preparation for takeout service, but sitdown service was several weeks away.